Principal Investigator(s):Waite, Linda J., University of Chicago. Department of Sociology; Cagney, Kathleen, University of Chicago. Department of Sociology, and Department of Health Studies; Dale, William, University of Chicago. Department of Medicine. Section of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine; Huang, Elbert, University of Chicago. Department of Medicine; Laumann, Edward O., University of Chicago. Department of Sociology; McClintock, Martha, University of Chicago. Department of Psychology, and Department of Comparative Human Development; O'Muircheartaigh, Colm A., University of Chicago. Harris School for Public Policy Studies, and NORC; Schumm, L. Phillip, University of Chicago. Department of Health Studies; Cornwell, Benjamin, Cornell University. Department of Sociology

Summary:

The health of older adults is influenced by many factors. One of the least understood is the role that social support and personal relationships may play in healthy aging. The National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) is the first population-based study of health and social factors on a national scale, aiming to understand the well-being of older, community-dwelling Americans by examining the interactions among physical health, illness, medication use, cognitive function, emotional ... (more info)

The health of older adults is influenced by many factors. One of the least understood is the role that social support and personal relationships may play in healthy aging. The National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) is the first population-based study of health and social factors on a national scale, aiming to understand the well-being of older, community-dwelling Americans by examining the interactions among physical health, illness, medication use, cognitive function, emotional health, sensory function, health behaviors, and social connectedness. It is designed to provide health providers, policy makers, and individuals with useful information and insights into these factors, particularly on social and intimate relationships. The National Opinion Research Center (NORC), along with Principal Investigators at the University of Chicago, conducted more than 3,000 interviews during 2005 and 2006 with a nationally representative sample of adults aged 57 to 85. Face-to-face interviews and biomeasure collection took place in respondents' homes. Wave 2 interviews were conducted from August 2010 through May 2011, during which Wave 1 respondents were re-interviewed. An attempt was also made to interview individuals who were sampled in Wave 1 but declined to participate. In addition, spouses or co-resident partners were also interviewed using the same instruments as the main respondents. This process resulted in 3,377 total respondents. The following files constitute Wave 2: Core Data, Social Networks Data, Social Networks Update Data, Partner History Data, Partner History Update Data, and Disposition of Wave 1 Partner Data.

Included in the Core file (Part 1) are demographic characteristics, such as gender, age, education, race, and ethnicity. Other topics covered respondents' social networks, social and cultural activity, physical and mental health including cognition, well-being, illness, history of sexual and intimate partnerships and patient-physician communication, in addition to bereavement items. In addition data was collected from respondents on the following items and modules: social activity items, physical contact module, sexual interest module, get up and go assessment of physical function and a panel of biomeasures including, weight, waist circumference, height, blood pressure, smell, saliva collection, taste, and a self-administered vaginal swab for female respondents. The Social Networks file (Part 2) contains one record for each person identified on the network roster. Respondents who refused to participate in the roster or who did not identify anyone are not represented in this file. The Social Networks Update file (Part 3) details respondents' current relationship status with each person identified on the network roster. The Partner History file (Part 4) contains one record for each marriage, cohabitation, or romantic relationship identified in Section 6A of the questionnaire, including a current partner in Wave 2 but excluding the partner from Wave 1. The Partner History Update file (Part 5) details respondents' current sexual partner information, as well as marital and cohabiting status. Lastly, the Disposition of Wave 1 Partner file (Part 6) details information derived from Section 6A items regarding the partner from Wave 1 within the questionnaire. This provides a complete history for respondent partners across both waves.

Access Notes

One or more files in this study are not available for download due to special restrictions; consult the restrictions note to learn more.
Additional information can
also be found in the Use Agreement.

Users interested in obtaining these data from NACDA must request and complete the NSHAP Restricted Data Use Agreement form. Users can download this form from the download page associated with this dataset. Completed forms with original signature(s) should be mailed to: Director, National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, Institute for Social Research, P.O. Box 1248, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248.

This collection is being released in seven parts: Parts 1 through 6 contain the ICPSR-processed files; Part 7 contains the original Stata data files with extended and nonextended missing values provided by the P.I. in a zip file package.

Please refer to the related data collection ICPSR 20541, National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP): Wave 1 for further information regarding the NSHAP project.

Methodology

Study Design:

In Wave 2, the instrument was simplified to facilitate both administration and analysis. Particularly, all questions were asked entirely in the in-person interview or the leave-behind questionnaire, as was not the case for the previous Wave 1 study design. In addition, partner history items regarding relationship details and sexual experience were combined into the same modules. As in Wave 1, selected biomeasures were administered to a randomized subset of respondents in cases where this provided adequate power for likely analyses. Users may refer to ICPSR 20541, National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP): Wave 1 for further study design information, as well as the Original P.I. Documentation in the ICPSR Codebook and visit the NORC at the University of Chicago Web site.

Sample:

In Wave 2, NSHAP returned to Wave 1 respondents and eligible non-interviewed respondents from Wave 1 (Wave 1 Non-Interviewed Respondents). The Wave 2 sample was also extended to include the cohabiting spouses and romantic partners of Wave 1 Respondents and Wave 1 Non-Interviewed Respondents. Partners were considered to be eligible to participate in NSHAP if they resided in the household with Wave 1 Respondent/Wave 1 Non-Interviewed Respondent at the time of the Wave 2 interview and were at least 18 years of age. In order to restrict inferences to the population of Wave 1 age-eligible, analysts may use the variable AGEELIG in the Wave 2 Core data file. Researchers wishing to compute design-based variance estimates may use the variables STRATUM and CLUSTER. These variables were constructed from the original sampling units for the purpose of variance estimation; the former may be treated as (pseudo) strata and the latter as (pseudo) Primary Sampling Units (PSUs). Users may refer to ICPSR 20541, National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP): Wave 1 for further sampling information, as well as the Original P.I. Documentation in the ICPSR Codebook and visit the NORC at the University of Chicago Web site.

Time Method:
Longitudinal: Panel

Weight:

The data are not weighted, but contain two weight variables within the Part 1 Core data file, which users may wish to apply during analysis. Respondent-level weights representing the inverse probability of selection are contained in the variable WEIGHT_SEL. A second set of weights incorporating a non-response adjustment based on age and urbanicity is contained in the variable WEIGHT_ADJ. Both sets of weights are scaled to sum to the final sample size (3,377). For additional information on weights, please refer to the NORC at the University of Chicago Web site.

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: